Blog Tour and Review: Canada Square by Carrie Elks

– SYNOPSIS –

Secrets have a way of coming out…

Amy Cartwright isn’t sure who she’s supposed to be anymore. Her family thinks she’s flighty, her ex believes she’s a walkover (the bastard) and her friends think she’s plain crazy. But there’s a different side to her that nobody sees, nobody but the cool, sexy Scotsman who just happens to be her boss.

Callum Ferguson isn’t looking for excitement; he’s had that and it almost ruined him. He likes things calm and predictable – everything that his new PA turns out not to be. But from the moment she walks through his office door it’s as though the light has come back into his life, and he can’t get her out of his mind.

Fighting against the inevitable, they both try to ignore the attraction, but the flame of desire is too bright. They’re soon drawn into a steamy love affair that they have to hide from everybody, knowing the revelation could cost them everything they’ve worked so hard for, including each other.

Author note: Canada Square is the third in the Love in London series, but can be read as a standalone book.

– EXCERPT –

The moment twists, the humour dissolving in the frisson that grows between us. I feel it crackling and buzzing against my skin, and all I can think about is that kiss.

Soft, sure. A brief moment of everything.

“Something?” I ask, a little breathlessly.

He catches my gaze, holding it without trying. In that instant I know for sure that whatever I’m feeling for him isn’t one-sided. It weaves between us, soft as silk, unbreakable as iron. It makes me feel delighted and downright scared. I can cope with a crush, enjoy it even. Treat him like the eye-candy he is, a piece of deliciousness to look forward to when I enter the office. But mutual attraction? That’s dangerous. It’s a lingering force that threatens everything; my job, my degree, my hopes for the future.

Here be dragons, but rather than run away from the flames, I’m letting them consume me.

– REVIEW –

“Get degree, get a job and get the hell out of here, I remind myself . . . If only my heart believed that.”

Kindle Loc. 1559 of 4986

Twenty-three year old Amy Cartwright has learned the hard way to keep her priorities in focus. Raised without a father and with her mother, Tina, in complete disarray, Amy just wants to graduate from college. Don’t even bring up her slime-bag, cheating ex, Luke. She’s finally moving on from the past and work, not love, is now her goal. Amy needs to finish her required internship at the Richards and Morgan firm to complete her degree. The last thing she needs is another distraction.

Enter Callum Ferguson. Oxford educated, green-eyed with auburn hair, thirty-three year old Ferguson is a Scotsman with a panty-dropping burr. Smart, hunky, Callum has been putting up a good front since the death of his wife, Jane, a few years earlier. He’s learned to manage on his own and it’s safe to say Callum has learned to channel his energies into his work. Callum doesn’t want any distractions, either.

Here comes Fate. Fate often has a twisted sense of humor. In this instance, the firm that employs both Amy and Callum, Richards and Morgan, has some pretty strict rules regarding fraternization between employees. Yes, that’s right — hands off your PA — or else out you go.

Both Callum and Amy are still putting their own pasts to rest. Family issues are ever-present and let’s not forget that company “no fraternization” policy that hangs over their heads. So what happens when Callum and Amy give in to their attraction to one another?

Canada Square is the third offering in author Carrie Elks’ Love in London Series. It is a standalone novel — you need not to have read any of the previous books to enjoy Canada Square.

While the boss/intern trope employed in Canada Square is common, author Elks’ enjoyable writing elevates that theme. Her main characters are well developed, admirable and the reader is sympathetic to their plights. The writing is smooth and the pace is even — the story never bogs down. The secondary characters are equally rounded out and fit into their plot lines neatly. This reader found no extraneous characters or fillers in this story. Elks development of her protagonist, Amy, is done with a masterful hand — one of the best examples of believable, sensical character growth this reader has encountered in the Romance Genre.

Well done, Carrie Elks!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review.*

LOVE IN LONDON SERIES

– ABOUT THE AUTHOR –

CARRIE ELKS

Carrie Elks lives near London, England and writes contemporary romance with a dash of intrigue. At the age of twenty-one she left college with a political science degree, a healthy overdraft and a soon-to-be husband. She loves to travel and meet new people, and has lived in the USA and Switzerland as well as the UK. An avid social networker, she tries to limit her Facebook and Twitter time to stolen moments between writing chapters. When she isn’t reading or writing, she can usually be found baking, drinking wine or working out how to combine the two.